MILAN — Ilia Malinin has arrived at the doorstep of history at the Winter Olympics. On Friday night, he is expected to cement his place in the pantheon of Winter Olympic stars if he wins his second gold medal at these Games, this one in the men’s individual event. 

Expectations of winning everything, every time have followed the 21-year-old self-proclaimed “Quad God” for several years now, so there’s nothing new about any of this. He is just so good, but in such a different kind of way. 

‘Of course it’s the quads,’ said Brian Boitano, 1988 Olympic gold medalist and co-host of USA TODAY Sports’ Milan Magic podcast. ‘But it’s more than that. It’s his ability to change things up, how he picks and chooses which elements and things he does in the program, how he made his program simpler at the national championships and then can rev it up to possibly do seven quads Friday. The fact that he can switch things up adds another layer to how special he is. It’s really hard to do that.”

Boitano, known as a terrific jumper in his day, has found a unique way to measure Malinin’s greatness. ‘Every jump I did as a triple, he has added a whole rotation onto every thing that I did and turned it into a quad.”

Figure skating always is a two-act show: there are the jumps and athletic moves, then there is the artistry. And there, Boitano said, Malinin’s innovative side shines as well.

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‘For a very young man who still will develop artistically, he adds his own twist to everything, like how he does the raspberry twist and the backflip,’ Boitano said. ‘He adds this entertainment quality to everything but he does it in a really calm manner. He’s the right amount of cocky, which is great because he’s not pretentious. He’s appreciative of his competitors. 

‘So all of these elements about him go into who is as a person, and I think that’s why he’s such a good champion because he’s really an all-around package.’

Malinin is a talkative person. He is happy to linger with reporters, ponder answers, think about things, almost always smiling while he does. He delights in analysis. 

‘Definitely I am a person who is striving to improve in everything and to really try to be the best version of themself that I can be, whether that be athletically, physically, mentally, emotionally,” he said last month after winning his fourth consecutive U.S. championship. “Every aspect that I see myself in, I want to be the best at and really just master everything I can, whether that be experiences, life skills, any skills, really. I like to try new things so it’s kind of part of my personality.”

When asked what it’s like to really have no rival, he demurs. ‘I do have a rival and that is my inner self. That’s my rival. My rival is I’m always competing against myself. Being a perfectionist is kind of like that rival.”

Malinin also has something else going for him: skating genes. He possesses the perfect body to jump, lean and lithe. No wonder he entered the family business. His mother, Tatiana Malinina, competed at 10 consecutive world figure skating championships for Uzbekistan. Most significantly, she competed at two Olympics and finished eighth at the 1998 Games in Nagano, the competition in which Tara Lipinski won the gold medal and Michelle Kwan the silver.

Malinin’s father, Roman Skorniakov, represented Uzbekistan at the same two Olympics, 1998 and 2002, finishing 19th both times. They were married in 2000 and became skating coaches in the United States, moving to the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., where, in December 2004, Ilia was born. He took the Russian masculine form of his mother’s last name because his parents were concerned that Skorniakov was too difficult to pronounce. 

Malinin’s father is in Milan coaching his son, while his mother is back home in Northern Virginia, doing her job coaching other skaters while watching from afar. There’s a reason for this. 

Word was mom gets too nervous watching her son. But no. ‘Honestly, the real reason is I get nervous when she comes,’ he said. ‘Not because of her but because I get more nervous for her getting nervous for me.’

Malinin said he hasn’t spoken with his mother at all since he came to Milan. ‘She doesn’t want to give me extra stress, so she wants me to handle it on my own, because she trusts me with that,” he said. ‘I just want to make sure that after the free program (Friday night), I get to have a chat with her and see her reaction.”

Then he smiled sheepishly. 

‘I’m sure she’s going to give me some trouble on that team short program,” he said, referring to his shaky performance Saturday night. ‘But that’s a mom, so I love her for that.’

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• Ilia Malinin landed a one-footed backflip at the 2026 Winter Games, helping Team USA win gold.
• The backflip was banned in 1977 but was performed by Surya Bonaly at the 1998 Olympics, who was penalized for the move.
• The International Skating Union lifted the ban on backflips in 2024, allowing them in choreographic sequences.
• Bonaly, a Black skater in a predominantly white sport, feels her legacy is now receiving proper recognition.

MILAN — When U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin completed a one-footed backflip in the men’s free skate in Sunday’s team event, the crowd at Milano Ice Skating Arena audibly gasped before erupting in cheers.

Malinin’s gravity-defying move capped a mesmerizing program that propelled Team USA to its second consecutive team gold medal. He became the first skater to land a one-blade backflip on Olympic ice since France’s Surya Bonaly performed the maneuver at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games.

The backflip has been openly embraced since its return to figure skating in 2024, but it was received much differently three decades ago when Bonaly chose to end her Olympic career on her own terms. The move was banned by the International Skating Union (ISU) in 1977 because it was deemed too dangerous.

But Bonaly did it anyway.

“I had nothing to lose anymore,” Bonaly told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. ‘I did it because I was an athlete and I wanted to show that I can do that … I left my trademark.’

Watch Olympics figure skating on Peacock

U.S. figure skater Terry Kubicka was the first figure skater to land a backflip on two skates at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympics, prompting the ISU to list the move as an illegal element the following year. An American may have debuted the backflip and the young U.S. prodigy revived it, but it was Bonaly who challenged rules and pushed boundaries as a Black woman in a predominantly white sport that never fully embraced her.

Bonaly was often labeled a rebel, rather than a trailblazer as racism impacted her career. Yet, Bonaly’s lasting legacy is finally receiving the recognition that has long been denied following Malinin’s Olympic performance. 

‘People have a more open mind now and are more accepting of others who do things differently,’ Bonaly said. ‘It’s even nicer now because I can feel that it’s been well digested by everyone … if it’s good, it’s good and that’s it, whether you are black, white, Chinese or Asian.’

Bonaly’s iconic backflip at the 1998 Nagano Olympics was completely spontaneous.

She was recovering from a right Achilles tendon rupture suffered two years prior and a pulled muscle ahead of the women’s singles free skate rendered her unable to complete her complex jumps. Bonaly knew she wasn’t going to make the podium in her third and final Games, but she nonetheless wanted to leave her mark on the ice.

‘I was not fully at my potential … I was just in bad shape,’ Bonaly recalled to USA TODAY Sports. ‘If I cannot do any more triple (jump) combinations or something like that, it’s my last competition coming up right here. And I’m like, I don’t have much time to think about it, I have to do now because I’m not going to have another chance.’

Bonaly knew she would be penalized for the maneuver, but after years of seeking approval from judges and navigating the moving goalposts that seemed to apply only to her, she decided to fully embrace her own identity. She wanted to make a statement and prove what she was capable of. Bonaly wanted to entertain the crowd.

‘I didn’t know what kind of penalty I was going to have,’ said Bonaly, who remembered thinking she ‘could have maybe (been) fully banned and have the judges put a zero.’ Although the backflip made her wildly popular among her fellow athletes within the Olympic Village, the judges were not happy with her. She dropped from sixth place after the short program to 10th after the free skate, but she said she has ‘no regrets.’

‘She thumbed her nose at the panel (of judges) a little bit, but at the same time, she gave the audience something extremely memorable,’ U.S. Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton said on a 2019 episode of Netflix’s ‘Losers’ docuseries. ‘There were a lot of people that placed above her, but I don’t remember a lot of those.’

Bonaly has never met Malinin, yet she first heard of him 10 years ago after running into his parents at the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Minnesota, where Bonaly now resides as a skating teacher. Malinin comes from a long bloodline of figure skaters. His parents, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, were both former Olympic skaters for Uzbekistan.

Malinina finished in eighth place at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, two spots ahead of Bonaly.

‘I remember his mom saying, ‘Oh, I have a son, he skates a little bit actually. And I was like, ‘Wow, that’s cool,” Bonaly recalled. ‘I didn’t know one day that little kid … would actually be a wolf engine.’

The clip of Bonaly’s 1998 Olympic backflip has been introduced to new audiences ever since Malinin completed the move at the Games for the first time since the ISU lifted the ban in 2024.

The backflip may be added to a skater’s choreographic sequence to showcase their artistic side and is judged in the component scores, but the element itself is not assigned a value, said USA TODAY reporter Christine Brennan and Olympic champion Brian Boitano, hosts of the ‘Milan Magic’ Podcast. (Malinin’s signature ‘Raspberry Twist,’ an acrobatic jump used to connect moves, also doesn’t earn him any bonus points.)

‘I decided to put it in my free skate, because it fits the music really well,’ Malinin said in October 2024 after the ban was lifted. ‘It gets that audience applause, feels really suspenseful and I really just like doing it.’

Bonaly applauds Malinin’s commitment to entertaining audiences, which she says is integral to growing the sport. She referred to him as a ‘warrior’ on the ice and ‘the best skater in the whole world.’

‘This Olympics is so entertaining … when I sit down and watch on a couch, I have my heart go boom, boom, boom,’ Bonaly said. ‘In skating, we cannot restrain athletes to just go forward … I think it’s important for our sports to be able to have people enjoy watching it.’

While everyone will be on the lookout for for Malinin’s backflip in his men’s singles free skate on Friday, Bonaly is most excited for his seven quadruple jumps, which earned Malinin the nickname ‘Quad God.’

‘The backflip sometimes is not the most difficult,’ Bonaly said. ‘I want him to do a perfect quad so nobody can say, ‘Oh yeah, but it’s (underrated) …’ I’m sick and tired of people already try to have a little something negative to just add. Especially for people who cannot do it, it’s even worse.’

As Bonaly reflects on her career that spanned over a decade, she believes she was simply was born ahead of her time. She said the current generation of skating ‘would’ve suited more my personality’ as skaters continue expand what is possible on ice. She hopes to be remembered as more than a one-trick pony, but an athlete who was ‘fully committed to push sports beyond the limits.’

‘I’m also something else besides the backflips. So hopefully people remember me for the rest of my skating,’ said Bonaly, a nine-time French national champion, five-time European Champion and three-time World silver medalist. ‘I took myself from nothing to become where I went, even though I didn’t get the gold medal.’

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MILAN – Thomas Kristensen tried to put into perspective what Denmark’s next match in the preliminary round of the 2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey tournament means back home.

His answer zeroed right in on why the match between Denmark and the U.S. on Saturday, Feb. 14 at Santaguilia Arena comes with a side of distraction.

‘Of course now they’re going to play a game on the real ice, not on the ice in Greenland,’ said Kristensen, a reporter and commentator for Denmark’s TV 2 Sport. ‘Of course it’s special, but I think that a lot of Danish people are trying to split it up and say this is sport and the politics has to be in another way.

‘You will not see anything from any Danish spectators or something going specific at the American players in no way.  The Danish people, they know that this is sport.’

‘We’re not used to being in the news that much,’ said Lars Eller, a forward with the Ottawa Senators who has played 1,116 games in the NHL. ‘But I feel like every week there’s something new, and whatever was in the news last week is forgotten quickly and we move on.

‘I don’t think it’s on any of ours minds what’s going on politically in the world. It’s outside noise and in the profession we’re in, you have to be good at tuning out the outside noise.’

Oliver Bjorkstrand, a forward for the Tampa Bay Lightning and an 11-year NHL veteran, has parried questions about his homeland.

‘More people are saying, hey, what’s up with Denmark?‘ he said. ‘Nothing crazy, but there’s some people who, if they know I’m from Denmark and in the States, they bring it up and it’s like, oh, that’s interesting or whatever.’

Captain Jesper Jensen Aabo, Denmark’s flag carrier in the opening ceremony, said that, ‘it doesn’t really mean anything to us, the whole political situation. I love Denmark and it’s in my opinion the greatest country on earth.

 ‘I don’t think this is the platform to discuss politics, but of course I follow everything.’

Frans Nielsen, who played 925 games in the NHL, was at Friday’s practice in his gig as a reporter for TV 2. He remembers visiting Greenland in seventh grade on a class trip. ‘It’s part of Denmark,’ he said. ‘No one ever mentioned Denmark in the world picture, so it’s weird to be in the news like this.’

Weird, but not something players spend time time thinking about.

‘Yes, that is something that the whole world is talking about,’ said Nikolaj Ehlers, a forward for the Carolina Hurricanes. ‘It’s nothing new. It doesn’t change anything for a hockey game.’

For the Danes, this tournament is about building on what the national team accomplished at the 2025 World Championship, when Denmark upset Canada in the quarterfinals.

‘It’s great for the sport,’ Nicklas Jensen said. ‘It’s great for all the young kids at home. It’s making maybe their dreams bigger, and maybe it feels more possible to do it so. It’s a really cool time we’re in right now with Danish hockey. Hopefully we can keep surprising.’

That World Championship performance is something the Danes want to use against the Americans. Sure, on paper, the Americans look intimidating, 25-NHLers deep. The Danes have six.

‘We know they’re the big dog, we’re the underdog,’ Bjorkstrand said. ‘It’ll be a difficult game, but as a small nation, where you know you’re the underdog, you just have to have a belief and just find a way to make positive things out there and keep it going for as long as possible. And then, you just see what happens.’

U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri unveiled a blueprint to ‘fix’ college athletics on Friday, and called out Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar and former Alabama men’s basketball forward Charles Bediako in the process.

• Secure Stability
• Putting Players First
• Saving Olympic and Women’s Sports
• Ensuring College Sports Endure.

The news release from Schmitt on Friday, however, did not mention plans for introducing a bill; he just announced a blueprint of pillars to use to resolve the issue.

‘College sports are uniquely American. They’re a source of excitement and pride not only for myself, but for millions of athletes, students, alumni, and fans across the nation. As a former two-sport college athlete, I know firsthand the excitement and impact they bring to families in Missouri and across the U.S.,’ Schmitt said in a news release. ‘Unfortunately, there is currently a chaotic landscape in college sports, with no guardrails, guidelines, or rules.

‘Congress must step in to safeguard the future of college sports, protect student-athletes, and restore order to a system that has grown unbalanced. Today, I am presenting a blueprint with four core principles to end rulemaking by lawsuit, clarity transfer rules, establish national standards, and prioritize the long-term success of college athletics.’

In a thread on X, Schmitt referenced both Aguilar and Bediako’s recent cases of asking for additional eligibility or returning to college after declaring for the NBA draft and playing in the G League, respectively.

‘The current environment is threatened by a constant string of lawsuits over eligibility — with some athletes suing for a 7th or 8th year of eligibility. Without rules, schools and athletes are in limbo and younger athletes are robbed of opportunities,’ Schmitt wrote on X. ‘Without rules, schools and athletes are in limbo and younger athletes are robbed of opportunities.’

As noted by the Knoxville News — part of the USA TODAY Network — Aguilar is having a preliminary injunction hearing in a Knoxville courtroom Friday after he sued the NCAA over eligibility rules regarding former junior college players. Aguilar’s hearing comes less than a day after Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss won his battle against the NCAA to become eligible for the 2026 college football season, as he was searching for a retroactive medical redshirt for the 2022 season when he was at Division II Ferris State.

Bediako lost his case against the NCAA earlier in the week, as Tuscaloosa Country Judge Daniel Pruet denied his motion for a temporary injunction to stay with the Crimson Tide. Bediako, who returned to the Crimson Tide back in late January after playing in the G League for the past three seasons, is one of several who have re-entered college basketball after forgoing their eligibility for the NBA draft and then playing in the G League.

‘We’ve also seen pro athletes try to jump back into college sports in the absence of eligibility rules. College sports are meant to be a limited-time, educational opportunity for amateur athletes. Allowing pros to participate will end college sports,’ Schmitt continued on X.

Other topics Schmitt referenced in his thread that his blueprint would resolve and fix included NIL, the transfer portal — to which ‘reinstating the one-time transfer rule will help restore stability to our teams and to the students’ educational experience’ — and the financial strain on athletic programs.

‘My plan would end this rulemaking by lawsuit and give a governing body the ability to actually enforce eligibility rules and standards that have left college sports in chaos in recent years. This is good news for schools and players — and keeps sports entertaining for fans,’ Schmitt continued on X.’

In December, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives pulled the SCORE Act, which was scheduled for a final vote that would have allowed the NCAA and its newly-formed College Sports Commission to create and enforce national rules that have been under legal dispute in recent years.

The SCORE Act (Student Compensation And Opportunity Through Rights and Endorsements) sought to provide more regulation and calm the chaotic environment created by the introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation, revenue sharing and the transfer portal to college sports. It passed a procedural vote, 210-209, but the legislation drew bipartisan backlash as a final vote neared.

The NCAA has lobbied for Congressional antitrust provisions throughout the past decade as its regulations over athlete compensation and transfer eligibility were challenged and eventually changed by state legislatures and lawsuits.

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MILAN — The U.S. women’s hockey team cruised through the preliminary round with a perfect 4-0 record and now enter the knockout rounds with a quarterfinal matchup against Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The Americans are coming off a 5-0 victory over Canada, marking the first time the reigning champion Canadians have been shut out in the Olympics. Rookie defender Laila Edwards made history during the win by becoming the first Black woman to score a goal for the U.S. national team.

American captain Hilary Knight is closing in on some history of her own. Knight is one goal and one point away from becoming the U.S all-time Olympic career leader in both categories in her fifth and final Games.

Here’s everything you need to know about Friday’s matchup:

Watch Winter Olympics on Peacock

What time is USA women’s hockey vs. Italy today?

• Date: Friday, Feb. 13
• Time: 3:10 p.m. ET
• Location: Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena

Puck drop between the U.S. women’s hockey team and Switzerland is set for 3:10 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 13 from Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena in Milan.

Where to watch US women’s hockey vs. Italy at Olympics

• TV channel: USA Network
• Streaming options: NBCOlympics.com | NBC Olympic App | Peacock

USA Network will broadcast Friday’s U.S. women’s hockey quarterfinal matchup against Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Streaming options for the game include NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Olympic App (with a TV login).

You can also stream the game on Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming service.

USA women’s hockey roster for 2026 Winter Olympics

Here is the full U.S. women’s hockey roster for the Milano Cortina Olympics:

• Forwards: Kirsten Simms; Kelly Pannek; Grace Zumwinkle; Hayley Scamurra; Britta Curl-Salemme; Hilary Knight; Tessa Janecke; Hannah Bilka; Joy Dunne; Alex Carpenter; Kendall Coyne Schofield; Taylor Heise; Abbey Murphy.
• Goaltenders: Ava McNaughton; Aerin Frankel; Gwyneth Philips.
• Defenders: Lee Stecklein; Cayla Barnes; Caroline Harvey; Megan Keller; Rory Guilday; Haley Winn; Laila Edwards.

USA’s lines vs Italy

The USA will stick with the same top two lines as in the Canada game. Hannah Bilka was moved to the second line for that game and scored two goals.

Hilary Knight tied for two U.S. records

Hilary Knight enters the game tied for the U.S. Olympic record for career goals and points. Her 14 goals are tied with Natalie Darwitz and Katie King. Her 32 points are tied with Jenny Potter.

USA vs Italy women’s hockey predictions

• Mike Brehm: USA 7, Italy 0. ‘The Americans have five goals in each game in the tougher Group A. Italy is not as strong as those teams.’
• Jace Evans: USA 6, Italy 1. ‘The Americans have been rolling at these Olympics and they’ll keep it up here.’
• Cydney Henderson: USA 4, Italy 1. ‘Five appears to be the lucky number, but I’m going to go 4-1. Italy will feed off the home crowd and keep it close before the Americans open it up.’
• Helene St James: USA 7, Italy 1. ‘The American women are a dominant, seemingly unstoppable force. Host Italy’s biggest asset will be all the home country fans – they’ve provided a great atmosphere at every hockey venue. Should help boost the Italians as the U.S. women look poised to rout.’

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NBA All-Star Weekend, during the past several years, has faced sharp criticism, even from the highest levels of NBA management.

‘I thought this was a little better, but it was a miss,’ NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in March 2025 of last year’s event. ‘We’re not there in terms of creating an All-Star experience that we can be proud of and that our players can be proud of.’

The 2025 NBA All-Star Game leaned far too much toward spectacle, creating a disjointed viewing experience. Last year marked the final time TNT would broadcast the event, ending a streak of 23 consecutive seasons. To commemorate that, the NBA halted play during the middle of the All-Star Game for a series of skits with comedian Kevin Hart and the ‘Inside the NBA’ crew.

This year, the NBA is turning to a ‘U.S. vs. World’ format, but it’s a structure one four-time All-Star thinks might be a case of too little, too late.

‘The lackluster response to the news really just showed me, like, man, All-Star may really be dead,’ Draymond Green said in a podcast episode that published Nov. 17. ‘I think people have just moved on from the whole entire idea.’

Fan patience may also be wearing thin, as the All-Star Game and its satellite events have lacked organic competitive spirit, coming at a time when overt attempts to tank are marring the regular season.

Here’s a preview of the three marquee events of the 2026 NBA All-Star break, with a glimpse of what fans can expect.

Slam Dunk Contest

This, arguably, is the event most under pressure, and that’s saying something.

The days of having stars compete in the Slam Dunk Contest are gone. The last player to participate in a Dunk Contest the same year he was an All-Star was Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, in 2024. Brown is an exceptionally gifted player, though he’s not a high-flying dunker.

Before Brown, the last All-Star to compete in the Dunk Contest was Victor Oladipo in 2018.

Instead of stars, the NBA has deployed uber-athletic, young players, often G Leaguers, who aren’t household names or rotational players. And while that has led to flashes of brilliance – Mac McClung dazzled during his three-year stretch of dominance in the event – increased incentives to lure stars would go a long way.

Out of this year’s participants, two average fewer than 10 minutes per game and three of four are below 13 minutes per game.

The general apathy has even reached participants.

In theory, Magic rookie guard Jase Richardson is a nod to nostalgia; his father, Jason Richardson, is a two-time champion (2002, 2003) of the contest and was one of the premier dunkers of his generation.

Yet, the younger Richardson’s highlights from this season show a player whose dunks lack the sizzle fans want to see.

In a social media message responding to Orlando’s congratulatory message that encouraged Richardson to ‘get it,’ his reply was regrettably symbolic of where the Dunk Contest is.

‘i guess,’ he wrote, followed by an emoji of a face crying with laughter and another of a man shrugging.

Predicted winner: Keshad Johnson, Miami Heat

3-Point Contest

Of the three events, the 3-Point Contest is the most secure. For one, the game’s best shooters tend to compete. For another, it’s a low-level lift for players – young stars and vets alike – which encourages their full engagement.

This year should be no different, though the absence of Warriors icon Stephen Curry, largely considered the greatest shooter of all-time, is a blow. Still, the field has plenty of talent across the board to make this event compelling.

The trickiest element for the future of the 3-Point Contest is what happens when the generation of shooters that have dominated (think Curry, Damian Lillard and Klay Thompson) retire.  

This year, the 3-Point Contest has some juice with the return of Lillard, the two-time champion (2023, 2024) who is competing despite his missing the entire regular season with a torn Achilles tendon. If Lillard wins, he’ll tie the record for most titles all-time.

Predicted winner: Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets

NBA All-Star Game

Perhaps looking to seize on momentum the NHL and pro hockey has generated with its 4 Nations Face-Off, the NBA is turning to a ‘U.S. vs. World’ format. It will pit two eight-man teams of domestic players – one of younger stars and the other of established veterans – against a third eight-man team of international players in a round-robin tournament.

It’s an idea that has some promise, but only if players fully buy in. During the past decade, players have loafed through the game, treating defense as a suggestion, not a mandate. That needs to change.

‘I want to push the great players of this sport to also play hard like I will,’ Victor Wembanyama said recently in French of effort in All-Star games. ‘We’ll see how it goes. But if they don’t want to go hard, we’ll have to do it without them.’

This is a positive sentiment, and one that should see a small spike in competitiveness, but it’s insufficient.

The NBA needs to incentivize participants further so that they can organically intensify their levels of competition. And while league executives might find these optics unsavory, there’s a very simple solution here: They can increase the purse for the winning team and sweeten the kicker further for the player who wins MVP.

This would create added expenses for the NBA, but if increased payouts reinvigorate the event, it’s an investment that will pay off over the long run.

Last year, the payout structure for the All-Star Game stipulated that each player on the third- and fourth-place teams netted $25,000. Players on the runner-up squad earned $50,000. For winning players, it was not much better, as they pocketed $125,000.

If there’s one thing that’s incongruous with this highly-commodified stage of capitalism we find ourselves in, one thing that squashes motivation, it’s unpaid labor.

Being an All-Star is an honor, yes, but these players are giving their time to the event, and that may be the most precious commodity of all.

Predicted winner: Team World

MILAN, Italy — Jordan Stolz resumes his chase for four Olympic gold medals when he competes in the 500 meters at the 2026 Winter Games Saturday, Feb.14.

He’s also chasing a legend, Eric Heiden, who in 1980 became the only person to win five gold medals in a single Winter Olympics.

While Stolz, 21, can’t win five at these Games, he is cementing his status as a legendary speed skater right alongside Heiden. And no man is better suited to compare the two than Bob Corby, who once skated against and trained with Heiden and now coaches Stolz.

“Heiden was probably even a little bit stronger and he was just so powerful,’ Corby told USA TODAY Sports. ‘He just hammered through things like that.

“And Jordan has so much speed that he’s actually equaling Heiden as far as being a phenomenon in the three shorter distances in 500, 1,000 and 1,500.’

Jordan’s speed and endurance were on display in the 1,000 when in the final 400 meters he overcame a 0.4 second deficit and set an Olympic record with a time of 1:06.28.

He’ll be tested again in the 500 — and draw on a variety of things that propel him on the ice.

Jordan Stolz’ wicked engine

Bonnie Blair, the five-time Olympic gold medalist who competed in the Winter Olympics between 1984 and 1994, said she regularly watches Stolz train at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee.

‘He can do just a crazy amount of laps,’ she said.

What makes it more impressive, according to Blair, is Stolz has no one to push him. By contrast, Blair said, she trained with Olympians such as Dan Jansen, Nick Thometz and her husband, Dave Cruikshank.

‘They could bring me to speeds I could never imagine going on my own,’ Blair said. ‘Jordan doesn’t have that. He’s doing that all on his own, but he’s doing it time after day after day.’

That leads to what Blair calls Stolz’s ‘wicked engine.’

‘The engine is to be able to go for a longer time and pretty consistent lap times,’ she said. “Then there’s the power that can come with it that you need for the sprint aspect.’

Stolz’s tempo also is striking, according to Blair, who cited the last 250 meters of Stolz’s gold-medal winning performance in the 1,000m on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

“A lot of athletes, I feel when they go into a turn they’re trying to hit it the right way,’ she said. ‘I feel like they sometimes downshift because they take these longer powerful strokes going in. And Jordan takes more of a quick 1, 2, 3 to get into the turn, and then he just keeps that motor going through the turn and really accelerates coming out.

‘But it’s hard to accelerate coming out of a 1,000 on the last corner, and that’s what he did. It was a crazy good race.’

Checking all the boxes

Shani Davis, a retired speed skater and a four-time Olympic medalist, cites genetics.

Stolz is 6-1 and about 180 pounds.

‘One of his biggest assets is his (body) structure,’ Davis said. ‘He is the right height, he’s a great weight.’

Not only does Stolz possess the optimal body, but he also capitalizes on it.

‘He just has a physical strength that a lot of people don’t have and he’s able to fit at angles that are really deep and low,’ Davis said. ‘He’s able to get great extension and he’s putting a great amount of power force pressure through the push into the ice that’s creating this amazing turnover to speed.’

The checklist for great skaters includes technique, strength, endurance and speed, according to Davis.

‘I feel like Jordan checks all those boxes,’ he said. ‘There’s no Achilles heel with him. And you’re seeing that more and more.’

‘Pretty phenomenal combination’

Corby, Stolz’s coach, said success starts with excellent and efficient technique.

‘You’re constantly putting in pressure into the ice as you’re moving it 40 mph. And that’s very hard to do. If your foot starts to tail off back behind you, you just really have a tough time generating speed’ Corby said. ‘He has really excellent technique both in the straightaways and in the corners. And so that’s one of the things that makes him fast.’

But the hidden factor is Stolz’s legs, according to Corby.

“He looks like a slender hit athlete, but you can’t believe how strong his legs are,’ Corby said. ‘That’s the hidden component.

“You can see their technique, but you can’t tell how much force they’re putting into the ice. And that’s what he does. He has extremely strong legs and really excellent technique. So it’s a pretty phenomenal combination.’

President Donald Trump has pardoned five former NFL players, White House ‘pardon czar’ Alice Marie Johnson announced on Feb. 12.

The president pardoned Joe Klecko, 72; Nate Newton, 64; Jamal Lewis, 46, Travis Henry. 47; and Billy Cannon, who died in 2018 at age 80, Johnson announced in a post on social media.

‘As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,’ Johnson wrote in the post on X. ‘Grateful to @POTUS for his continued commitment to second chances. Mercy changes lives.’

A pardon permits the president to grant leniency to someone who has committed a federal crime. It often indicates the convicted person has taken responsibility for their actions.

The formal forgiveness for the crime sometimes restores legal rights like voting or holding office that would otherwise be barred due to the criminal conviction, according to the Department of Justice.

Which NFL players did Trump pardon and what teams did they play for?

Trump pardoned the following five former NFL players:

• Joe Klecko (New York Jets defensive lineman); sentenced to three months in jail in 1993 for lying to a federal grand jury about an auto-insurance fraud scam.
• Nate Newton (Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman); sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2002 after he was arrested with 175 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of his car near Dallas.
• Jamal Lewis (Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns running back); pleaded guilty in 2004 to using a cell phone to try to set up a drug deal and was sentenced to four months.
• Travis Henry (Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos running back); sentenced to three years in prison in 2009 for financing an interstate drug ring.
• Billy Cannon (Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs halfback) sentenced to five years in prison 1983 for taking part in a counterfeit-money-printing operation.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

Men’s college basketball’s last unbeaten team puts its unblemished record on the line as Miami (Ohio) hosts rival Ohio at 9 p.m., Friday night.

The RedHawks (24-0) have had plenty of close calls, including two overtime wins and two 2-point wins in their past six games.

Ohio (13-12, 7-5) beat Miami 75-66 last season and leads the overall Battle of the Bricks series 120-96 all-time.

Miami’s 24-0 start is the best in MAC history and the longest win streak in conference history (surpassing Kent State’s 21-0 run in 2001-02).

The last men’s team to finish a season undefeated was the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers.

A key to the RedHawks’ success is their scoring balance. Seven players average double figures and an eighth (Luke Skajlac) averages 9.7 ppg.

Here’s what you need to know for Friday’s game:

What channel is Miami Ohio vs Ohio basketball on today?

• TV channel: ESPN
• Streaming: ESPN app | Fubo (free trial)

Miami (Ohio) vs. Ohio men’s basketball will face off in a nationally televised matchup on ESPN. 

Streaming options for the game include the ESPN app, which requires a valid cable login to access, and Fubo, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.

What time is Miami Ohio vs Ohio basketball today?

Tonight’s intra-state MAC showdown is at 9 p.m. ET, Friday, Feb. 13

Where is Miami Ohio basketball in bracketology?

In USA TODAY Sports’ latest bracketology released Feb. 13, Miami is projected as a No. 11 seed facing Arkansas in St. Louis.

Miami Ohio basketball rankings: Where are RedHawks in polls?

Miami is ranked No. 24 in the USA TODAY Coaches poll and No. 23 in the AP poll.

Ohio vs Miami Ohio basketball odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:44 a.m. ET.

• Moneyline (ML): Ohio +425 (bet $100 to win $425) | Miami -600 (bet $600 to win $100)
• Against the spread (ATS): Ohio +10.5 (-115) | Miami -10.5 (-105)
• Over/Under (O/U): 163.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)

Miami basketball stats, leaders

• Scoring:
  • Guard Brant Byers: 14.7 ppg
  • Guard Peter Suder: 14.2 ppg
  • Guard Evan Ipsaro: 13.9 ppg
  • Guard Eian Elmer: 11.8 ppg
• Rebounding:
  • Guard Eian Elmer: 6.0 rpg
  • Forward Antwone Woolfolk: 5.5 rpg
  • Guard Peter Suder: 4.6 rpg
• Assists:
  • Guard Luke Skaljac: 4.6 apg
  • Peter Suder: 4.3 apg

Miami Ohio basketball schedule

Here’s who the RedHawks have left on their schedule:

• Feb. 13: vs. Ohio, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
• Feb. 17: at UMass, 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
• Feb. 21: vs. Bowling Green, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
• Feb. 24: at Eastern Michigan, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
• Feb. 28: at Western Michigan, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
• March 3: vs. Toledo, 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
• March 6: at Ohio, 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
• March 12-14: MAC Tournament, at Cleveland